It is desirable to minimize the amount of human labor expended in maintaining and cleaning residential and commercial spaces. The art has therefore developed robotic devices that can clean or otherwise maintain or treat floors, carpeting or the like without the necessity for a human to be present during the operation of the device. The most common robotic devices of this kind are dusters, buffers, vacuum cleaners, floor sweepers, and floor polishers.
Such devices typically have a computer control program to direct a preferred movement pattern. The control is linked to steering devices as well as motors that are in turn connected to wheels. Many of these devices also include sensors to confirm the initial and later positions of the device relative to the pre-set path. The most sophisticated of these devices include sensors to detect the presence of unexpected obstacles, as well as programming to provide options for altered paths where that occurs. An example of a prior art control system for such a robotic system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,900. See also U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,844.
As these devices are intended to be operated autonomously, and for a significant period of time, it is desirable to provide a supply of cleaning materials which is renewable and which does not require significant maintenance. It is also desirable that various types of cleaning supplies for various types of cleaning and floor surfaces can also be provided, in order to provide multiple cleaning functions from a single device. Various types of cleaning should not only be available, but easily implemented on the autonomous cleaning device.
Known in the art are various methods for providing a length of cleaning material in a reel to reel configuration. U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,451, for example, depicts a floor cleaning device which is designed to have a reel-to-reel cloth 33 that is advanced during use. The cloth is used for cleaning and/or drying the floor, and may be a non-woven fabric. An elastic compression element 41 forces the cloth towards the floor. The system is described as also being capable of delivering liquid.
Another such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,642 which describes the use of a mechanism for tightening a dusting cloth in a reel-to-reel system used for one type of flooring, here a bowling lane.
Also known in the art are removable cleaning elements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,900, for example, discloses a floor cleaning machine which can include a removable dust pan.
While several devices for advancing cleaning materials through a cleaning device with minimal maintenance are known, these devices each require a significant interaction between a user and the dirt-collecting material. Furthermore, once these devices are installed, they are not easily replaced when, for example, a different type of cleaning or a different floor surface is encountered, or when the cleaning material is either used-up or soiled to the point of inefficiency.
In sum, a need still exists for improved surface treating devices, particularly those that can easily and efficiently provide multiple cleanings, and which can easily and efficiently be removed and replaced when a different type of cleaning is required. These types of devices are particularly desirable for use in robotic or other autonomous applications.